The relevance of employee motivation for change management

Résumé du document

As highlighted by the work of several authors such as Jalajas & Bommer (1999) or Stumpf & Hartman (1984), motivation has become considered as one of the main elements influencing different work-related factors. As summarized in the work of Vithessonthi & Schwaniger (2008), motivation has been shown to be "positively related to organizational commitment (Deery et al., 1995; Morrow, 1983), work performance (Jalajas & Bommer, 1999), commitment (Jalajas & Bommer, 1999; Morrow, 1983)" and negatively correlated with job absenteeism (Blau, 1986; Deery et al., 1995).

All of these benefits pushed researchers to get interested in how employees could be motivated (Herzberg, 1968; Kanfer, 1990; Vroom, 1964) and lead to the general assumption that highly motivated employees should present better responses to change (Vithessonthi & Schwaniger, 2008). In this paper, we will shortly introduce the concept of change and discuss the link between motivation and change management, illustrating the role that motivation plays in change processes.

The same way that motivation has been recognized to be one of the most important things to care about in firms, the capacity to manage change is now considered as crucial for enterprises. In our fast moving environment all enterprises are affected by change, whatever their size or functions (By, 2005) and according to many authors (Roberts, 2005; Christian & Stadtlander, 2006), firms that are not able to properly manage timely change processes jeopardize their competitive advantages (Wickham, 2004) and their chances of long-term survival.

Extraits

[...] Prentice Hall: Harlow. Burnes, B. (2000): Managing change: A strategic approach to organizational dynamics, 3rd edn. Harlow: FT/Prentice-Hall. By R.T. (2005), ‘Organizational change management: A critical review'. Journal of Change Management 369–380. Dent E.B. & Goldberg S.G. (1999), ‘Challenging “resistance to change”', The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, Vol No 25-41 Guimaraes Armstrong C. (1998), ‘Empirically testing the impact of change management effectiveness on company performance'. [...]

[...] Then, highly motivated employees are more committed to the organization and thus more willing to support change efforts. Empirical studies show that individuals with high levels of motivation tend to show higher levels of change support, as long as it is not socially inappropriate (in the case of downsizing for example). However the outcomes of the change process have to be well-communicated and clear, to reduce uncertainties that may make people with high job satisfaction think that their comfort is threaten. The relationship between motivation and change-management is double. [...]

[...] & Irmer, B.E. (2007): ‘Uncertainty during organizational change: Managing perceptions through communication', Journal of Change Management, 187-210. Andersson L.M. (1996), ‘Employee cynicism: an examination using a contract violation framework', Human relations, 49: 1395-1417 Bovey, WH & Hede, A (2001) ‘Resistance to organisational change: The role of cognitive and affective processes', The Leadership and Organizational Development Journal 372-382. Burke, W. (2002): Organization change: Theory and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Burnes B. (2004), Managing Change: A Strategic Approach to Organisational Dynamics. 4th edn. [...]

[...] European Journal of Innovation Management 74–84. Holton E. & Russel C. (1999), ‘Organization entry and exit: an exploratory longitudinal analysis of early careers', Human performance 311- 42 Kotter J.P. (1990) A force for change: how leadership differ form management, Free Press Kotter, J. (1995), ‘Leading change: Why transformation efforts fail'. Harvard Business Review 73 59–67. Mabin, V. J., Forgeson, S. and Green L. (2001), 'Harnessing Resistance: Using the Theory of Constraints to Assist Change Management', Journal of European Industrial Training 25, pp. [...]

[...] To sum up, motivation should be present in the organization before change happens to make change possible (motivation to stay in the organization) and easier (high levels of motivation). Motivation should also be carefully monitored during change processes to ensure that commitment to the organization in general stays high. Consequently, leaders should always be aware of the importance of motivation in change processes. This variable should be measured at all stages of the project and most important, employees should be carefully motivated towards change. References Aiken C. & Keller S. (2009), irrational side of change management', The McKinsey Quarterly Issue 2 Alas R. [...]